Charter School Transparency Measure Clears the Connecticut Senate

The Senate early Tuesday approved a bipartisan bill that seeks greater accountability and transparency from the operators of the state's 22 public charter schools.

"I think it's critical if we are going to have charter schools and add charter schools ... that we have transparency,'' said Sen. Beth Bye, co-chairwoman of the legislature's appropriations committee. "When you take public money and invest in anything, we need to have utter transparency.''

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The bill, approved by a vote of 35 to 1, institutes a number of new reporting requirements, including a mandate that requires each charter school to submit an annual report to the education commissioner detailing the school's progress in meeting academic and organizational goals.

Schools would be required to adopt anti-nepotism and conflict of interest policies and would also be subject to the state's Freedom of Information requirements. Charter school managers would be required to undergo background checks.

An early version of the bill would have placed a moratorium on new charter schools, but that provision was stripped as the measure moved through the legislative process. Charter school operators denounced that portion of the legislation, along with the open-records law requirements.

"The proposed two-year moratorium on new charter schools is a drastic misstep that sends the wrong message to parents, students and communities across the state,'' Jeremiah Grace, state director of the Northeast Charter Schools Network, told lawmakers at a hearing on the proposal in March.

Instead of a moratorium, the version of the bill adopted by the Senate contains a requirement that new charters would not be approved until funding was in place.

Members of the Bridgeport delegation were among those backing the bill. The city is home to four charter schools, and a fifth was approved by the State Board of Education last year.

"If we're going to have charter schools in this state, we should vet them,'' said Sen. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport. "I'm not against charter schools, but Bridgeport has more charter schools than anyone in the state.''

Sen. Marilyn Moore, another Bridgeport Democrat, said the public has a stake in knowing whether a charter school is fulfilling its mission because these schools receive state money.

"Before I do any investing ... I want to know my rate of return,'' she said.

The bill now awaits action in the House of Representatives. The legislature adjourns at midnight on Wednesday.